The Pope Gets a Custom EV

The green pope has added an electric car to his garage. Last week the French carmaker Renault presented Benedict XVI with a custom Kangoo EV based on the Maxi Z.E. released last fall. Renault and Nissan together have invested $5.16 billion in developing eight electric vehicles over the next several years, the first of which was the Nissan Leaf.

Powered by a 60-hp electric motor and lithium-ion battery pack, the van has a range of 105 miles on a charge. That's more than enough to carry his holiness comfortably around his 5-square-mile summer home in Castel Gandolfo.

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The papal Kangoo is colored in a white that matches the alb, the pope's white robe. It features a sunroof, power folding door steps, and "particularly comfortable" rear seats. Non-pope Kangoos start at $20,000; Renault's not saying how much this one cost.

Although the pope will ride in this car, the Kangoo is not technically a popemobile. Those are built exclusively by Mercedes and used for public appearances. Pope Benedict has a hybrid popemobile—a Mercedes-Benz M-Class presented to him in June 2011 that has 20 miles of electric-only range.

So far the Vatican has resisted a fully electric popemobile, because it says the electric motors would lack the power to accelerate the heavy armored car away from danger. However, it may have something to do with the fact that Mercedes isn't working on an EV for its commercial line and is loath to spend money developing an electric drivetrain just for the pope.